Jagatsinghpur: It was in the morning of November 21, 2017 , Saroj Das in Tarapur town was out on a morning walk when he heard a deafening sound. Soon he realized that it was a major accident involving a passenger bus and a school van. Reaching on the spot he found school children were trapped in mingled school van which was turned turtle and skidded into a nearby ditch after the accident.

Saroj was joined by two other passers by –Raghunath Moharana and Dinanath Singh– and three of them engaged themselves in retrieving the children. They rescued about 19 injured children and others from the vehicles. They also informed the police, fire brigade and ambulance for timely shifting of the victims to the hospitals in nearby Raghunathpur and Jagatsinghpur.

Their good work did not went un-noticed.

The district police on Thursday has felicitated the three for their commending role in rescuing the accident victims.

“The three were given cash incentives and certificates in recognization of their good and exemplary work” , said the district police SP, Jay Narayan Pankaj.

The state government’s commerce and transport department has formulated a Good Samaritan Policy to reward the people who help victims of road accidents.

People are scared of helping accident victims for that may lead to police harassment and legal complicity.  The Good Samaritan Policy gives protection to the people coming forward in helping the distress people. The Policy also encourages the Good Samaritans with cash incentives and citation.